


often melancholy desire

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: dimension 20 [47]
Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign 05: A Crown of Candy, Multi, Pining, lots of yearning. heavy yearning, the knights who pine for their monarchs and find- if nothing else- an understanding in each other, very light angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:30:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25160134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: Gooey watches Sir Theobald watch the former king Amethar and sees the same thing in his eyes she sees in the mirror and thinks,hmm.
Relationships: Theobald Gumbar/Gooey, Unrequited Gooey/Saccharina Frostwhip, Unrequited Theobald Gumbar/Amethar Rocks
Series: dimension 20 [47]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706107
Comments: 9
Kudos: 69





	often melancholy desire

**Author's Note:**

> spoilers for Family Ties

Gooey watches Sir Theobald watch the former king Amethar and sees the same thing in his eyes she sees in the mirror and thinks, _hmm_. 

Gooey watches her Majesty the Queen and thinks-

 _about the two of them, fifteen, breathless, still in nunnery clothes and exhausted from their escape, but they are breathless and exhausted and_ free _, and Saccharina takes Gooey’s hands in her own and says, We should get married! and Gooey stares at her with wide eyes and Saccharina, who to Gooey has always embodied the storms that she calls to her fingertips, doesn’t wait for Gooey to agree. (She never has to wait for Gooey to agree and Gooey has never felt the need to ask her to.)_

_They get married on the coast and they take every Bulbian tradition that was beaten into them and throw it into the sea. They make rings from cheese-bark and burn them and the fire lights the ceremony alongside the stars. They hold each other’s hands and say no vows, just look into each other’s eyes and lose themselves. It is loud with the crack of thunder and pounding of rain and exactly right, and it is the best night of Gooey’s life._

_Things move on. Saccharina takes lovers in the Islands, on the seas; in Carn and Candia. Gooey remains at her side; loyal and steadfast. She loves her and will always love her and cannot imagine herself not loving her. If that means feeling the burnt chocolate melt down her face as she steps in front of a blow meant for Saccharina, if that means cutting down life after life with the axe whose grip is almost as familiar as Saccharina’s on that breathless night, well.  
_

_She can’t imagine herself not loving her.  
_

Sir Theobald watches his King (not the King according to a concord built on betrayal and lies but what use does Theo have for a broken concord? Amethar is and always has been _his King_ ) and thinks-

_about arriving at Castle Candy when he is young and inexperienced and the bonfire of devotion in his heart is only just beginning to spark and he sees the Prince for the first time on his way to the Archmage’s quarters and the way that he’d waved so casually at Theo had made him very nearly walk into a doorway because Theo is a knight and the Prince had noticed_ _him anyway.  
_

_They do not speak often because most of Theo’s days are spent arranging the security detail for the Archmage and guarding the door of her study and carrying around scrolls, but Theo hears tales of his feats of bravery anyway.  
_

_When the Prince occasionally comes to visit, he waves to Theo and one day when the Archmage isn’t there he stops and leans against the doorway and says, Sir Theo, right? and the informality makes Theobald uncomfortable and dangerously curious both, and he stands straight enough to make his armor creak and says, Sir Theobald Gumbar, your Highness, because there is a tiny, traitorous part of himself that wants to lean against that doorway as casually as the Prince and Theo has heard about the Prince’s reputation for informality bordering on the insulting and Theo has a duty.  
_

_Prince Amethar sighs and wanders away, and Theo remains standing at attention, and that is that. (And the tiny, traitorous part of Sir Theobald’s heart never quite goes away.)  
_

_After Lazuli’s body is brought home in her brother’s arms and Theobald’s failure is cemented he is assigned to protect the Prince and if he throws himself into blows the Prince can take easily with a ferocity that doesn’t quite match up to what he brought to his protection of the Archmage, well that is just another failure for him to spend his life making up for._

Sir Theobald serves the sovereign ruler of Candia and Gooey serves the lawful queen of Candia, and they stand at her left and right hand. He inquires about rank and Gooey narrows her eyes. He hovers and rambles and Saccharina places him in charge of her security and Gooey, who has worn the protection of her queen like a proud mantle across her shoulders for so many years, strides up to him to make certain he understands the weight of his responsibility. 

He stands his ground and her breath is hot on his neck and when they make eye contact there is an understanding made of quiet things and steadfast devotion, there is a _knowing_ and, of course, neither of them are bad looking people, and so when Saccharina pulls her aside, Gooey tells her one truth and does not tell her anything else. 


End file.
